Fawzy Abdalla is the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS Field Security Associate (FSA) covering South Kordofan: home to the Nuba Mountains and to more than two million people living in the area where months of escalating violence have disrupted communities and reshaped the savanna landscape. Located in the heart of South Kordofan, Abu Jubayhah was once an agricultural hub, a place where goods moved and markets thrived. Now, it has become a way station for over 10,000 people fleeing violence from Kadugli, Dilling, and surrounding areas. Ten thousand lives. Surviving in vulnerable conditions. People with no other option but to keep moving, again and again, in search of somewhere safe enough to stop.
It was in this setting that, in late April 2026, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS supported an important visit to Al Obeid and Abu Jubayhah by senior Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ officials overseeing the Humanitarian Response in Sudan. The two weeks leading up to the visit, Fawzy worked closely with Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS colleagues across the country to assess routes, liaise with local authorities, and put in place the security and contingency planning needed for the convoy to move safely.
Security and contingency planning may seem routine but in the Kordofan region, one must always expect the unexpected. The delegation was in Al Obeid, carrying out a full day of site visits and meetings with external partners, when gunshots suddenly echoed through the city. Everything paused. For a few moments, the day's schedule ceased to matter. ¡°The visiting team considered whether to remain where they were, move to another location, or suspend the mission altogether¡±, Fawzy recalls. The volatility of the environment became very real, very quickly.
For Fawzy, however, what he remembers most is not the tension of these situations, but the resilience and the quiet resolve of the people.
After more than three years of conflict in Sudan, he has seen what war does to ordinary lives. People arrive in Abu Jubayhah with nothing but the clothes on their bodies, still searching for a place where the violence cannot reach them. These communities depend on aid, protection services, and safe access to lifesaving support. Yet, when the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ arrives, they feel hopeful.
¡°People tell us how happy they are when they see the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ arriving¡± he says.
That is what gives meaning to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS work. The Sudan Humanitarian Fund has financed Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS's expansion to eight locations across Sudan, giving the organization the geographic reach to conduct field assessments, map access routes, and maintain a security presence in the most challenging contexts. South Kordofan is one of those areas. Without the security coverage and coordination support, humanitarian partners would be exposed to heightened security risk, endangering not just aidworkers but the people they serve. Without security assessments and advice, movement would cease; and assistance would be delayed or deferred.
In South Kordofan, uncertainty is constant, but so is Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵDSS¡¯ commitment. Fawzy and his colleagues ensure that others can move, operate, and reach people who are waiting. For families who have been displaced and continue to search for stability, the arrival of a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ convoy and teams is a reminder that they count.